Review of all 3 parts:
This 3 part story was written by the great Robert Holmes who had been the best script editor in the show's history presiding over the finest era (seasons 12 to mid season 15) as well as writing numerous fantastic stories over many many years. This is one of the weakest he was involved with but in fact his script is actually pretty good in a number of ways and is far better than the majority of scripts during the 6th Doctor's era. The dialogue is quite well written and the plot is has some decent aspects with interesting ideas. It features the 2nd Doctor and his companion Jamie as well as the 6th Doctor and Peri which in itself is an exciting opportunity. Unfortunately the 2nd Doctor is largely sidelined early on and hardly interacts with the 6th Doctor until the end. Whenever Patrick Troughton is on screen Holmes' dialogue comes to life and the story is appealing. Even when he is converted into a hunger driven 'Androgum' he is amusing and makes it work. Sadly, the characterisation of the 6th Doctor is an inherent weakness in this period of the show and Colin Baker is as grating as usual at times portraying the Doctor as an arrogant, pompous, rude egomaniac. Holmes script often brings out the best in him though and Peri even occasionally sounds OK with Holmes' dialogue. Sadly Nicola Bryant just was not good enough to deliver a strong performance and combined with Baker's irritating characterisation is a negative.
Another problem is the disappointing production values of this time. Costumes, sets, effects and action sequences continue to be poor. The Sontarans look rubbish, the garish costumes look silly and the sets look dodgy. The direction is not good enough. There is also an unimpressive fishing scene in a quarry. On the plus side we get nice location filming in Spain which makes it look more pleasant visually and the music is very good and appropriate. In fact the first 2 parts are pretty decent thanks to Troughton and Hines brief but lovely appearances, Jacqueline Pearce's guest performance, the music, the Spanish locations and Holmes' script which is over complicated but has some ambition and intelligence. They are only held back by the 6th Doctor and Peri's unpleasant bickering, the weak sets & costumes and a needless unpleasant scene involving a rat being killed and eaten (not a real one, an unrealistic dummy one). These first 2 episodes are not great but are of an acceptable standard overall.
Sadly the third and final episode in the story goes wrong. The cannibalism aspect was teetering on the edge of being inappropriate for family viewing but in part 3 things go too far with the unpleasant, gratuitously violent murder of Oscar and the Doctor being injured in a knife fight before killing his assailant with cyanide. This is all made worse by being mixed together with silly farcical humour and the Doctor making Bond-like one liners after acts of violence. I like the show to have darkness, horror and even violence when done well but this is all totally mishandled. The silly humour is not funny and the direction, particularly of action scenes is weak. The plot gets muddied by all the farcical shenanigans and the episode is a poor one in many ways.
Some say that this story supports the 'season 6b' theory that the 2nd Doctor and Jamie have adventures guided by the Timelords between the majority of The War Games and the regeneration. I find this odd as the Doctor mentions dropping off Victoria and also it seems at odds with the Timelords punishing him and exiling him. In fact I find this story raises a number of questions continuity wise but that is not a major complaint.
It is a pity that certain aspects, mainly the third part let down this story.
My ratings: Part 1 - 7/10, Part 2 - 7.5/10, Part 3 - 3.5/10, Overall - 6/10.
This 3 part story was written by the great Robert Holmes who had been the best script editor in the show's history presiding over the finest era (seasons 12 to mid season 15) as well as writing numerous fantastic stories over many many years. This is one of the weakest he was involved with but in fact his script is actually pretty good in a number of ways and is far better than the majority of scripts during the 6th Doctor's era. The dialogue is quite well written and the plot is has some decent aspects with interesting ideas. It features the 2nd Doctor and his companion Jamie as well as the 6th Doctor and Peri which in itself is an exciting opportunity. Unfortunately the 2nd Doctor is largely sidelined early on and hardly interacts with the 6th Doctor until the end. Whenever Patrick Troughton is on screen Holmes' dialogue comes to life and the story is appealing. Even when he is converted into a hunger driven 'Androgum' he is amusing and makes it work. Sadly, the characterisation of the 6th Doctor is an inherent weakness in this period of the show and Colin Baker is as grating as usual at times portraying the Doctor as an arrogant, pompous, rude egomaniac. Holmes script often brings out the best in him though and Peri even occasionally sounds OK with Holmes' dialogue. Sadly Nicola Bryant just was not good enough to deliver a strong performance and combined with Baker's irritating characterisation is a negative.
Another problem is the disappointing production values of this time. Costumes, sets, effects and action sequences continue to be poor. The Sontarans look rubbish, the garish costumes look silly and the sets look dodgy. The direction is not good enough. There is also an unimpressive fishing scene in a quarry. On the plus side we get nice location filming in Spain which makes it look more pleasant visually and the music is very good and appropriate. In fact the first 2 parts are pretty decent thanks to Troughton and Hines brief but lovely appearances, Jacqueline Pearce's guest performance, the music, the Spanish locations and Holmes' script which is over complicated but has some ambition and intelligence. They are only held back by the 6th Doctor and Peri's unpleasant bickering, the weak sets & costumes and a needless unpleasant scene involving a rat being killed and eaten (not a real one, an unrealistic dummy one). These first 2 episodes are not great but are of an acceptable standard overall.
Sadly the third and final episode in the story goes wrong. The cannibalism aspect was teetering on the edge of being inappropriate for family viewing but in part 3 things go too far with the unpleasant, gratuitously violent murder of Oscar and the Doctor being injured in a knife fight before killing his assailant with cyanide. This is all made worse by being mixed together with silly farcical humour and the Doctor making Bond-like one liners after acts of violence. I like the show to have darkness, horror and even violence when done well but this is all totally mishandled. The silly humour is not funny and the direction, particularly of action scenes is weak. The plot gets muddied by all the farcical shenanigans and the episode is a poor one in many ways.
Some say that this story supports the 'season 6b' theory that the 2nd Doctor and Jamie have adventures guided by the Timelords between the majority of The War Games and the regeneration. I find this odd as the Doctor mentions dropping off Victoria and also it seems at odds with the Timelords punishing him and exiling him. In fact I find this story raises a number of questions continuity wise but that is not a major complaint.
It is a pity that certain aspects, mainly the third part let down this story.
My ratings: Part 1 - 7/10, Part 2 - 7.5/10, Part 3 - 3.5/10, Overall - 6/10.